News/Press

EU4Business projects have created more than 10,000 new jobs since the initiative launched in 2009, according to a Consolidated Report of its activities. The Report, presented to the 1st EU4Business General Assembly in Brussels on 17 May, says a further 93,000 jobs in SMEs have been supported by business advice under the initiative. Further achievements From 2009 to 2016, other impressive results...

A Regional Position Paper as a contribution by the East Invest 2 project to the Eastern Partnership Business Forum in Tallinn this October contains a series of broad-ranging recommendations to improve the business climate for SMEs. The regional position paper, endorsed at the final East Invest 2 project conference in Kiev on 21 June, was drafted with the input of around 200 business associations...

The EU Business Climate Report 2017 was launched during the recent EU-Azerbaijan Business Forum on 8 June 2017. The survey aims to assess the current conditions for doing business in Azerbaijan, highlighting key reform achievements and remaining bottlenecks. Improvements made but economy still weak Despite notable improvements in the EU businesses' perception of the economic situation over the...

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and EU Ambassador Janos Herman jointly launched a new information portal on all DCFTA related matters. The site is hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. It was developed with the support of the EU–GIZ Project ‘SME Development and DCFTA in Georgia’. The website is online since June 19th and provides detailed information on all...

21 June 2017, Kiev More than 100 business support organisations (BSOs) representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the EU Member States gathered in Kiev today for the final conference of the EU funded East Invest project. Participants discussed private sector's engagement in policymaking across the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and showcased East Invest...

Over 500 representatives of business and government attended the EU-Azerbaijan Business Forum in Baku on 8 June. The forum was organised by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, in cooperation with the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce. It aimed at increasing networking and contacts between EU and Azerbaijan companies, and...

Joint outreach with EU4Business Initiative to support local SMEs Strengthening and deepening its outreach in Ukraine , the EBRD has opened a new regional office in the southern city of Odessa, the country’s naval gateway on the shores of the Black Sea and one of its most important industrial centres. The Odessa office is the EBRD’s third representation outside the capital, Kiev, and will serve as...

Over 200 representatives of the Armenian tech and science community gathered for the Unleash The Future forum in Yerevan on 30 May. The event was organised by SmartGateVC in cooperation with the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) , and with the support of EU4Business and EU4Innovation. The aim of the forum was to link different generations of Armenian entrepreneurs and...

The Ukrainian Government has approved a new strategy to boost SME development and open up access to finance. The Development of Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurship in Ukraine Strategy (SME Strategy 2020) aims to increase the contribution of SMEs to the national GDP to 60.5% by 2020 , from 59% in 2015. It embraces the principles of the Small Business Act for Europe and recommendations of the...

EU4Business has launched a new project in three Armenian provinces – Lori, Syunik and Armavir – to train young people in growing their start-ups. Successful Start, launched in May by the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center (SME DNC) in Armenia , will help scores of budding entrepreneurs establish viable companies by developing their business skills and helping them...